Opinion
China is under pressure to revalue yuan again
According to this article published on Tuesday 13 September, China's undervalued yuan is once again under scrutiny. The move by the PBOC has done little to make the currency trade more freely against the U.S. dollar, it says.
Comment: More autonomy for the PBOC?
The IMF board is plainly split on what attitude to adopt towards China's exchange rate policy but has come out usefully supporting moves to give the People's bank of China more discretion in setting interest rates.
Comment: Sarbanov should be supported
Ulan Sarbanov, governor of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan, has been placed under house arrest. The accusation against him is that he abused his power during the rule of the deposed president Askar Akayev.
Fed may pause for political reasons
Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the outcome of the Federal Reserve's next FOMC meeting is up for grabs, this article published on Tuesday 6 September suggests. The answer isn't just a question of policy, politics may be involved as…
Comment: Time for central banks to modernise
During the last 20 years, most central banks have been given much more policy autonomy and independence. Along with this have come pressures for more accountability and transparency. This is entirely appropriate as independence and accountability should…
Asia can fight speculators without its own IMF
The Indonesian authorities plan to seek $6 billion in standby funds from Japan to bolster the country's depleting foreign reserves has seen the Indonesian currency slump to a four-year low, this article published on Tuesday 6 September reports.
Comment: Smaghi calls for fiscal synchronisation
Writing in the Financial Times on September 8, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, a member of the ECB's executive board, called on member states to improve the synchronisation of the their budgets in order to strengthen the economic governance of the Euro area.
U.K. interest rates are heading for a decline
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will decide on UK interest rates this Thursday. This article published on Wednesday 7 September suggests there will no surprise when the MPC leaves interest rates unchanged at 4.5 per cent, but rates are…
Bank of Italy's Fazio defies mounting calls to go
Antonio Fazio continues to defy calls for his resignation from the Bank of Italy. This article published on Tuesday 6 September says the face-off between Fazio and a growing number of government ministers threatens a prolonged institutional crisis in a…
News from SIBOS banking conference
Jean-Michel Godeffroy, director general of payment systems at the European Central Bank, was at the centre of several key debates at the SIBOS conference in Copenhagen on Wednesday 7 September.
Comment: Preventing terrorist financing
Public policymaking, at its most simple, involves promoting public goods, preventing public bads and creating processes and structures which make sure this happens.
Fed may raise rates even after Hurricane Katrina
According to this article published on Tuesday 6 September, the outcome of the next Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for two weeks from today, is not a foregone conclusion, for the first time in nearly two years.
Why Indonesia must consider abolishing rupiah
This article published on 1 September asks what is the good of having a monetary authority when it can't protect the purchasing power of the currency it issues? The crisis of confidence surrounding Indonesia's rupiah is prompting some analysts to ask if…
Comment: Bank of Italy reforms
As pressure mounts on the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to take definitive action in the ongoing saga surrounding the position of Bank of Italy governor, Antonio Fazio, market analysts will also have one eye on some of the more fundamental…
Greenspan the 'risk manager'
The recent Jackson Hole conference provided another peek into the mind of a central banker who has kept Wall Street guessing for two decades, this article writes. The essence of Greenspan's approach, it says, is to anticipate and accommodate possible…
Comment: Oil markets - The need to look deeper
Crude oil futures last week shot above the $70 per barrel in the wake of hurricane Katrina's devastation of the American south coast.
Oil price rise leads to C-word use in Asia
This article published onb Friday 2 September says that when respected and sober Asian economists start using the word 'crisis' in reference to surging oil prices it's time to take them seriously.
Comment: Risks in housing finance
Personal debt levels in the UK and USA are at record highs, while savings rates have fallen to record lows. As concerns grow over the risks posed to financial stability and economic performance, central banks and regulators are having to consider how…
Fed after Greenspan will need skillful handler
An article published on Wednesday 31 August asks whether the next Fed chairman can possibly be as skillful as Alan Greenspan has been in using a discretionary approach to monetary policy.
Comment: UK's 50-year indexed gilt
The UK will combine two growing trends in sovereign debt issuance when it issues the world's first 50-year index-linked gilt in November.
Greenspan's legacy - 'Greatest central banker'
This article published Monday looks at a paper presented at the recent conference held by the Kansas Fed in Jackson Hole. Although the paper criticises that "much of the secret of Greenspan's success remains a secret" - according to the article this is…
Comment: How to account for gold?
Opinions on whether gold is a good investment for central banks vary, but what is beyond dispute is that the different methods of accounting for gold in their balance sheets and income statements is a source of endless confusion.
Money separates European Central Bank from Fed
According to this article published on Tuesday 30 August, in the old days, bond traders had a singular, stock response to a surge in oil prices and the onset of natural disasters, such as hurricanes: Sell Treasuries.
Comment: Playing Yuan Politics (31 Aug)
How significant is last month's announcement by the Chinese monetary authorities that it is to drop the dollar peg for the yuan in favour of a basket of currencies?